THE FILE: PRISON ABUSE / Since reports first surfaced of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, other accounts of ill treatment have surfaced in Iraq and at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay. The number of investigatio

THE FILE: PRISON ABUSE / Since reports first surfaced of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, other accounts of ill treatment have surfaced in Iraq and at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay. The number of investigatio

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

ABUSE

Prisoners have been forced to strip naked -- nudity is a violation of Muslim principles; forced to commit actual or simulated sex acts; prevented from sleeping; threatened with dogs; hooded; given electric shocks; beaten with fists, chains, boots and other objects; forced to maintain painful positions for hours; kept in frigid isolation rooms; subjected to loud music, strobe lights and diets of bread and water; urinated on and prevented from praying or reading the Koran.

DEATHS

Of the 37 reported deaths of prisoners (32 in Iraq and 5 in Afghanistan) in U.S. Army detention centers since August 2002, at least 15 appeared to have been killed by U.S. troops or interrogators, according to death certificates released by the Pentagon. Four deaths were declared justifiable homicide when guards shot detainees during a prison riot at Abu Ghraib last November. In another case, a guard who shot a prisoner to death for throwing rocks at him was dishonorably discharged. Fifteen deaths have been attributed to natural causes and one as accidental. The military is investigating nine deaths as "suspicious." No U.S. soldiers have been criminally charged in any of the prison deaths.

Related Stories

Afghanistan: More than 300 Afghans are reportedly being held at more than 20 secret facilities, mostly in southern and eastern Afghanistan. Among the major sites are Bagram Air Base and Helmand province detention center.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: More than 600 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners are being held in this specially built maximum-security prison at this U.S. naval base as "enemy combatants." Accusations of abuse have been leveled by released detainees, but the U.S. military has denied any major instances of abuse, saying emphasis is psychological, not physical.

WEB LINKS

Web site addresses for additional information on the prisoner abuse scandals:

INVESTIGATIONS

Military: Based on official data available, there are 107 separate military inquiries, involving at least 111 Iraqis and Afghans. Eighty-five investigations are being conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division into detainee deaths and alleged assaults and thefts by U.S. soldiers since the beginning of 2003.

Britain: The British government said this month that military police had investigated or were continuing to probe 75 cases of alleged abuse, civilian deaths and injuries in Iraq.

International Committee of the Red Cross: Last November, the Red Cross gave notice to Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. officer in Iraq, outlining abuses it had uncovered at Abu Ghraib. In February, the ICRC issued its final report, which documented widespread abuse. In May, Red Cross officials publicly complained that the Army had ignored their findings.

Congress: The Senate Armed Services Committee, which has been holding hearings, says it is still missing key documents from the Army investigation, including information on interrogation procedures that could clarify whether soldiers thought they were acting under orders. The Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Justice Department memos suggesting the 1949 Geneva Conventions and other laws might not apply to America's war on terror led to interpretations by military personnel or interrogators that laws and treaties that forbid torture were no longer in effect. The House Armed Services Committee is asking the Defense Department to turn over evidence relating to allegations of torture or allegations of violations of the Geneva Conventions at Abu Ghraib.

INVESTIGATORS

Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba: In a comprehensive investigation into conditions at Abu Ghraib, Taguba cited "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuse," and concluded there was no clear line of authority at the prison. The report documented extensive abuse by military guards, and faulted the Nov. 19 order signed by Sanchez that turned over control of prisoner interrogation to military intelligence.

Army Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder: The Army's chief law-enforcement officer, Ryder was ordered last year to review the prison system in Iraq. The report of his 13-member team concluded that conditions met "minimal standards of health, sanitation, security, and human rights," but that some Iraqis had been held for several months for nothing more than expressing "displeasure or ill will" toward U.S. occupying forces.

Army Maj. Gen. George Fay: The deputy chief of Army intelligence is conducting an investigation into the role of the 205th Brigade in the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Marine Col. William Gallo: He led an investigation that concluded Marines killed an Iraqi prisoner at Camp Whitehorse near Nasiriya last June. He also reported that Marine guards forced prisoners to stand for hours in hoods in 120-degree heat to "soften" them up before interrogation.

Army Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby: The deputy operational commander at Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military's main base in Afghanistan, Jacoby conducted a "top-to-bottom" review of the network of military prisons in that country, and the military promised to improve conditions there.

Navy Vice Adm. Albert "Tom" Church: Church has been ordered to conduct a wide-ranging investigation of interrogation practices throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.

INTERROGATION MEMOS

Bush administration officials prepared memorandums in 2002 and 2003 regarding the status of U.S.-held prisoners, providing legal arguments to support the administration's assertions that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to detainees from the war in Afghanistan being held at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales: In a January 2002 memo to President Bush, Gonzales wrote that the post-Sept. 11 security environment "renders obsolete (the Geneva Conventions') strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." He said Bush should declare the Taliban and al Qaeda outside the coverage of the Geneva Conventions. That would keep American officials from being exposed to the federal War Crimes Act.

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo: Now a UC Berkeley law professor, Yoo argued in a series of memos in January 2002 that al Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan are not covered by the Geneva Conventions or the War Crimes Act. He contended that neither al Qaeda nor the Taliban could be considered "functioning" states, nor was the war on terror a conventional war as conceived by those laws and conventions. In late 2001, Yoo told Pentagon general counsel William Haynes that Guantanamo Bay was not a part of the sovereign United States and therefore not subject to the federal courts.

State Department legal adviser William H. Taft IV: In a February 2002 memo to Gonzales, Taft warned that the broad rejection of the Geneva Conventions "deprives our troops there of any claim to the protection of the conventions in the event they are captured."

Defense Department Legal Task Force: In a March 2003 memo, the task force drew on earlier memos to declare that the president was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal anti-torture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: In an April 2003 memo to Gen. James Hill, Rumsfeld outlined 24 permitted interrogation techniques, four of which were considered stressful enough to require the secretary's explicit approval.

THE ACCUSED

Army Reserve Spc. Jeremy Sivits: A 24-year-old auto mechanic from western Pennsylvania, Sivits pleaded guilty on May 20 to four abuse-related charges and was sentenced to one year in prison, reduction in rank to private and a bad-conduct discharge. He has agreed to testify against his accused former fellow soldiers.

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick: The unit's senior officer at Abu Ghraib, Frederick, 37, is charged with conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees and committing an indecent act. Prosecutors say he forced a detainee to stand on a box with his hands attached to wires, told him he would be electrocuted if he fell off, and photographed the incident.

Army Reserve Spc. Charles Graner: Graner, 35, is charged with conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assaulting detainees, indecent acts, adultery and obstruction of justice. He is seen in a photograph smiling next to a pyramid of seven naked Iraqis piled on top of each other and is accused of punching a detainee unconscious.

Army Reserve Sgt. Javal Davis: Davis, 26, is charged with conspiracy to maltreat detainees at Abu Ghraib, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of prisoners -- including jumping into a pile of detainees and stomping on their feet -- and falsifying statements to investigators.

Army Reserve Spc. Sabrina Harman: The 26-year-old MP testified that it was her job to keep prisoners awake. A decision is pending on whether she will face a general court-martial.

Army Reserve Pfc. Lynndie England: England, 21, was shown in photographs grinning next to naked detainees and holding one by a leash. An Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a grand jury inquiry, is scheduled for this week at Fort Bragg, N.C., to determine whether she will be prosecuted.

Army Reserve Spc. Megan Ambuhl: Ambuhl, 29, has been accused of posing in a photograph of detainees held by leashes and failing to protect detainees from abuse. A decision is pending on whether she will face a general court- martial.

Marine Sgt. Matthew Travis: He is charged with giving an Iraqi prisoner electric shocks at Al Mahmudiya prison. Travis is scheduled to go to trial on July 24.

ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

President Bush: The president said he first saw or heard about the photographs showing inmate abuse at Abu Ghraib prison when they were broadcast on the CBS News program "60 Minutes II" on April 28. In recent weeks, the president said he ordered U.S. administration officials to act consistently with the law and international treaties. Bush also said that he didn't recall seeing advice from the Justice Department about the conditions for torture.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Rumsfeld, while accepting overall responsibility for the reported misconduct of U.S. soldiers, has said in congressional hearings that he had no knowledge of the abuses in Iraq until last month. The Los Angeles Times reported that Rumsfeld's office instructed interrogators in late 2001 to "take the gloves off" while questioning "American Taliban" prisoner John Walker Lindh. Other news reports said that Rumsfeld secretly approved aggressive interrogations for al Qaeda prisoners and authorized that certain detainees be kept off the official prisoner lists.

Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone: Cambone asked Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, to go to Iraq last summer and suggest changes in the prison system. Miller's visit reportedly led to an increase in abuses after he recommended that military intelligence officers be put in charge of Abu Ghraib.

Defense Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith: In charge of setting policy on prisoners and detainees in Iraq, Feith argued as far back as 1985 that terrorists or guerrillas should not be granted prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Conventions.

TOP MILITARY OFFICERS

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller: The current Chief of Interrogations and Prisons in Iraq, Miller recommended that military intelligence officers "set the conditions" for interrogations to elicit the maximum information from detainees. He denies allegations that as the former commander of the U.S. detention and interrogation center at Guantanamo Bay, he imported to Iraq techniques used on al Qaeda and Taliban suspects at Guantanamo.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez: As commander of U.S. military forces in Iraq, Sanchez issued a classified memorandum on Oct. 12, 2003, that outlined a new "interrogation and counter-resistance policy" in which the "interrogator should appear to be the one who controls all aspects of the interrogation ... as well as food, clothing, and shelter." His Nov. 19 order put the military police at Abu Ghraib prison under the control of U.S. military intelligence soldiers. Sanchez, who will be replaced later this summer by Gen. George Casey, has testified before Congress that he did not learn of the abuses until January, months after they first began.

Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski: Karpinski was in charge of all 16 U.S. prisons in Iraq as commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade. On May 24, the Army formally admonished her and suspended her from her command. Karpinski denies knowing of any serious abuses at Abu Ghraib. She says Miller's visit to Iraq and the subsequent order for Army intelligence officers to take control of the cellblocks created the atmosphere that led to the abuses.

Brig. Gen. Barbara Fast: As the top Army intelligence officer in Iraq, Fast set up the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center at Abu Ghraib prison last September. Her involvement, if any, in the abuse remains unclear. She was in charge of military intelligence officers and civilian interrogators at the prison.

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers: Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, approved the new interrogation techniques, as outlined in the Sanchez memorandum, according to the New Yorker magazine. But he told the Senate Intelligence Committee he had not read the Taguba report on prison abuses before the photographs were broadcast on national TV.

MIDLEVEL OFFICERS

Lt. Col. Jerry Phillabaum: The commander of the 320th Military Police Battalion at Abu Ghraib, Phillabaum received a reprimand and has been accused of failing to train his soldiers. Phillabaum has said that despite the prevalent use of psychological tactics against prisoners, he was never aware of illegal abuses. He was relieved of his command.

Col. Thomas Pappas: Commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, Pappas had control of the overall Abu Ghraib prison as the senior intelligence officer. He has been accused of failing to ensure his soldiers follow the Geneva Conventions governing permissible interrogation techniques.

Lt. Col. Steven Jordan: Ex-director of the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center inside Abu Ghraib, which was established last September, Jordan has been accused of failing to train or supervise prison interrogators.

The Taguba report concluded that Pappas and Jordan were "either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses."

CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS

Abu Ghraib was initially run by the 800th Military Police Brigade, whose MPs are limited by Army regulations from using heavy-handed methods. But a policy change on Nov. 19, 2003, caused two key cellblocks to be placed under the direct control of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade. Employees of two private companies were assigned to help the 205th Brigade in interrogations: CACI International Inc. of Arlington, Va., a longtime defense contractor, supplied interrogation specialists; Titan Corp. of San Diego supplied interpreters. Their employees are not subject to the same military code as uniformed soldiers and are exempt from Iraqi laws under a decree by the U.S. occupation in Iraq.

Steven Stefanowicz: A CACI International employee who Taguba said should be fired from his Army job and reprimanded. Taguba accused him of instructing MPs in "setting conditions" for interrogations, knowing that his suggestions "equated to physical abuse." Stefanowicz's lawyer, Henry Hockeimer Jr., said his client is no longer in Iraq but is still employed by CACI and did nothing wrong.

John Israel: Taguba recommended disciplinary action against Israel, an Iraqi American from Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County), for being either directly or indirectly responsible for prisoner abuses. Israel was a civilian interpreter employed by SOS Interpreting, a subcontractor for Titan.

Adel Nakhla: An Arabic translator for Titan who was named in Taguba's report on the mistreatment of detainees. Titan has dismissed Nakhla, but has not disclosed the reason.

David Passaro:

Passaro, a CIA contract worker, was indicted June 17 on assault charges in the death of a detainee in Afghanistan.